I have TerraDome 2 with the lightning and all that jazz, but I'm wondering how to go about getting a really good effect going on with the lightning. I'm hoping to have a scene with a character where the lightning bolt is the only light source, and lights up the scene sufficiently. I tried it a few times yonks ago but don't have a scene now, so I'll be starting again from scratch.

Also, can anyone recommend an epic rain effect? Something which will work with a large, open scene.

I have TerraDome 2 with the lightning and all that jazz, but I'm wondering how to go about getting a really good effect going on with the lightning. I'm hoping to have a scene with a character where the lightning bolt is the only light source, and lights up the scene sufficiently. I tried it a few times yonks ago but don't have a scene now, so I'll be starting again from scratch.

Also, can anyone recommend an epic rain effect? Something which will work with a large, open scene.

Cheers! :)

]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14258https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14258Sun, 29 Jan 2017 16:24:49 GMT@Glen85 the smaller the mesh light the more grainy and longer the render will be. FYI.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14259https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14259Invalid Datea lightning texture I just made in Photoshop and pasted to the background zone of the default GROUND.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14265https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14265Invalid Date@ghostship said in PP2014 TerraDome 2 Lightning:

@Glen85 the smaller the mesh light the more grainy and longer the render will be. FYI.

Is that so? I did not know that. Nice lightning render BTW, is that only that image providing illumination?

]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14269https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14269Sun, 29 Jan 2017 19:36:49 GMT@matb yes, only that image is lighting the scene.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14270https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14270Invalid Date@ghostship Very effective. And is that a photoshop lightning filter?
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14272https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14272Invalid Date@matb

]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14280https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14280Invalid Date@redphantom Oh, thanks for reminding me I have those freebies. I got them at RDNA years ago. ~smile~
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14285https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14285Invalid DateAgreeing with Ghostship that a small intense mesh light as the only (or at least main) illumination will require a lot more mesh light samples (=>15) and probably also more overall scene samples (=>30) to get the render clean, and that means longer render times. But, the effect can be dramatic and beautiful.

I don't recall having tried to generate rain alphas, but I'm pretty sure I've made a 30-frame looped sequence (animated) of lightning. I'll look.
Those who have some of my models may already have lightning stills (single JPEGs), AVIs, or even the JPEG sequence. Look in textures\seachnasaigh\weather and in textures\seachnasaigh\glitter.

You could use math nodes to add the lightning onto the skydome, and use the lightning alphas as masks to drive boosted ambient response.

Else, you could apply the lightning to billboard props - that would make for simpler materials and you could have the lightning strike wherever you want.

Ah, here we go. This will do the trick:

The movie node has JPEG #001 loaded; it will read all thirty JPEGs in sequence as the animation progresses through frames.

It will take time for me to finish a proof-of-concept demo render, and to package the billboard prop.

]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14295https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14295Mon, 30 Jan 2017 09:48:26 GMTYou know, some of you are talking superfly stuff. The OP said pp2014. That didn't have superfly.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14298https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14298Invalid DateOooops! I read the post, but missed the Pro2014 reference right in the thread title!
I can make the lightning billboards work in Firefly (P9/Pro2012+). Must render with IDL engaged and at pretty high settings for irradiance cache and IDL quality, so expect long render times.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14300https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14300Invalid DateHere's a P9/Pro2012 Firefly IDL render using the same lightcasting billboard technique - the "Palace Theatre" sign. You can see that it definitely casts light onto the stone wall behind it.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14304https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14304Invalid DateThanks for the replies, folks.

I have the Ride the Lightning product, but I'm really after a gigantic effect which is blindingly bright. I can't find a really decent example image, so maybe I'm just dreaming of it being a bigger effect than it really could be, I don't know.

]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14310https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14310Invalid Date@seachnasaigh Are you sure that is a Firefly render? The grain is a giveaway.
]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14311https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14311Invalid DateAck! You're right! I did renders with both engines. Firefly, IDL:

Mods: Please add correction to or delete my post three posts up with the Superfly render of Palace Theatre.

]]>https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14321https://forum.smithmicro.com/post/14321Tue, 31 Jan 2017 00:11:51 GMTAnimated lightning demo, using sequential JPEGs in the movie node (Superfly animation). I can make this work for P9/Pro2012 and later Firefly, but you'll need to render with IDL engaged and at high irradiance cache and IDL quality settings (=>67% each), so expect long render times.

Yes, that's what I mean by "billboard". A simple flat square in this case, with the lightning JPEGs controlling the transparency.
I used three billboards side by side, with the frame number for each billboard staggered by ten frames.
So in scene frame 001, billboard A shows JPEG 001, billboard B shows JPEG 011, and billboard C shows JPEG 021.